


Puzzle Piece

by AutisticWriter



Series: Autism Acceptance Month [21]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: #redinstead, Acceptance, Autism, Autism Acceptance, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Bill Dewey, Autistic Connie Maheswaran, Autistic Creative Challenge, Autistic Steven Universe, Boycott Autism Speaks, Family, Ficlet, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hugs, Implied Buck Dewey/Jenny Pizza/Sour Cream, Implied/Referenced Ableism, Mentions of Autistic Onion, Stim Toys, Stimming, Tumblr Prompt, autism acceptance month, red instead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 07:11:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14350488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: In which Bill Dewey does his best to get Beach City going Red Instead, and finds the support of many people.[Prompt 18: Puzzle piece]





	Puzzle Piece

Bill Dewey knows that he isn’t the best mayor in the world, that he gets a few… some… most things wrong when it comes to running the town, but he knows that, if nothing else, there is something he always gets right.

Every April, people across America colour everything blue and put up posters and go on walks, all in the aim of raising money for a ‘charity’ called Autism Speaks. He used quote marks for charity because Bill doesn’t know how you can call a group that spreads offensive and downright hateful speech about autism, barely gives any of their money raised to autistic people and their families, and make autism out to be a monster stealing your children a genuine charity in any way. Basically, along with a huge amount of the autistic community, Bill hates Autism Speaks, and detests the month of April due to all the publicity they get.

But as the mayor of Beach City, Bill can ensure that his town doesn’t go through the same thing as most other towns throughout the country. So every April, he makes sure Beach City doesn’t Light it Up Blue (the thing people do to support Autism Speaks; seeing blue sometimes is enough to make him shudder), and actually goes Red Instead. He also bans the puzzle piece symbol, which Autism Speaks loves and he and most other autistic people hate, because being he doesn’t want to be compared to a puzzle that is missing a piece. Because he isn’t broken; he is just a person who is different. And as puzzle pieces make the nasty implication that you are defective if you are autistic, you won’t see that symbol in this town.

So if you visit Beach City during April, you will find people wearing red and posters telling people about good and genuine autism charities, like the Autism Self Advocacy Network, who actually want to help autistic people, whilst the Neurodiversity symbol (a rainbow-patterned infinity symbol) patterns everything.

And Bill likes to give a speech, wringing his hands openly (because there is no reason to suppress his stims during a time for complete autism acceptance like this), telling the citizens of his town that if they are autistic they are valid and there is nothing wrong with them, and if they know someone autistic, that they should be the supportive friend or family member the person needs. And the audience clap and cheer, and they seem to forget about all of the mistakes Bill has made during his time as mayor, happy to listen to what he has to say.

After his speech is over, Bill is approached by Steven Universe and his friend Connie, both of them wearing red ribbons in their hair, Steven holding a fidget spinner whilst Connie has a chewable stim toy sticking out of her mouth. They both smile.

“That was another awesome speech, Mayor Dewey,” Steven says, flicking the fidget spinner. “I think it’s so great they way you tell everyone about what real autism acceptance is.”

Connie nods. “It’s wonderful to see everyone here wearing red and supporting people like us. Thank you so much for making a difference.”

And Bill starts to sweat out of embarrassment, wringing and wringing his hands. But he smiles, so pleased to have received such lovely praise. “Thank you. It means so much to me.”

When the two children head off to buy ice cream, three more people approach him. Bill sees Buck, his son, wearing red sunglasses and a badge that says **I <3 my autistic dad! **His boyfriend, Sour Cream, and girlfriend, Jenny are stood either side of him, both wearing red T-shirts that say _#Redinstead_.

“Hey, dad,” Buck says, looking faintly embarrassed.

Jenny nods. “Great speech, Mr Dewey.”

“Yeah, it was cool,” Sour Cream says, smiling.

“Thank you,” Bill says.

“Hey, do you like Buck’s badge?” Jenny says, pointing to the really sweet badge on Buck’s jacket.

Buck blushes, and Bill hears him mumble, “Jen, shut up.”

“No, it’s cute,” she says, putting her arm around him. She turns back to Bill. “I asked my sister to make it for him.”

“Kiki made one for me too,” Sour Cream says, moving his open jacket to the side and showing the badge pinned to his shirt. It says: **I <3 my autistic brother! **“’Cause I want to support Onion too.”

Bill smiles and he hopes he won’t start crying. He moves forwards and puts his hand on Buck’s shoulder. “I think they’re lovely. Thank you all for your support.”

“No problem,” Buck says awkwardly, but he doesn’t pull away when Bill gives him a hug.

And Bill knows the rest of this April is going to go just fine.


End file.
